For love or money

He loves photographing and once made a living as a photojournalist in Malaysia but he gave that all away. Now Kheong Sen Lim has a day job and takes photos for the love of it.

Kheong loves his creative freedom. He doesn’t like the idea of someone else defining what makes a good photo.

Where once he made a living out of taking photos of prime ministers, royalty and the like, he now prefers to choose his subjects. He loves to photograph purely as a hobby, “it allows me to take what I want and publish want I want,” he explains.

He even turned down a job offer with an international photo agency. But that certainly hasn’t dampened his output.

These beautiful photographs in the slide show are part of his Bendigo Project. They came about three years ago as a way to “get a little more focused”. He needed a theme to “invite some discipline” onto the practice. As he walks though the CBD of Bendigo almost everyday and always with his camera he thought he would capture “a little bit” of the city.

Kheong has lived in Bendigo with his family for the last six years. Originally from the small regional city of Ipoh in Malaysia, he came to Bendigo for a job, after living in Singapore for eight years. He works as the technical manger at the Capital Theatre.

His love of photography started at an early age. At the age of six he started taking his first photos using his parents, Rollei twin-lens reflex known as the Rolleiflex.

Such was his dedication that after a year of washing cars and giving his mother massages he saved a grand total of $60 and eventually bought the camera from his parents.

But Kheong only really got serious with photography when he got his first SLR at the age of 13. It was a Canon AV-1, a present from his mother.

After doing away with all his “fancy gear” from his photojournalist days he now has a few simple old cameras that he uses. An old Panasonic LC1, a couple of old Nikon D40s, an old Nikon FE from 1986 that he uses for film processing and his smartphone.

It was his photos on his smartphone that first captured my attention.

As he says, “ the best camera is the one you have on you.”

Simplicity is also often best. He says the best ingredients for street photography are cameras that are compact and unobtrusive. You have to go unnoticed and be ready to capture The Decisive Moment as it unfolds in front of you.

It is the spontaneity of photography that he loves, “it captures a split second, a moment in time for literally an eternity,” he says.

No wonder he is inspired by the great photojournalists like the late French photographer and father of photojournalism Henri Cartier-Bresson, late American World War ll photojournalist W. Eugene Smith and renowned American photojournalist Peter Turnley, all masters of the moment.

Kheong particularly likes to photograph early in the morning or late in the evening, “I like to make use of light and shadows,” he says.

Winter is his favourite season, “the sun is really low and you get a lot of shadows. I play with light and shadows and forms and shapes,” he says.

Here are Kheong’s top three tips for photography:

1. To See: In this day and age of being busy we don’t stop to really look at things. You need to be in a calm state of mind and really look at a space and frame it.

3. Practice makes perfect: It’s not about the equipment , it’s about getting out there and taking lots of photos. The more you shoot the better you become.

Feeling inspired? Come along to the next ABC Open photography workshops. There is one at the Castlemaine Library on Wednesday 28th August from 1pm to 4pm and one at the library in Kerang on Monday 9th September from 10am to 1pm. Keep your eye on the events page to find out what other workshops are happening.

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Comments

Batman

What a fantastic slideshow! Wonderful images. What a practical and lovely statement- "The best camera is the one on you." Great tips too!!

Gemma Deavin

I love these photos by Kheong Sen Lim! I could look at them all day. I think he's well and truly surpassed his goal of capturing a "little bit" of Bendigo. Thanks for sharing his tips. It was also fantastic to read that Kheong Sen Lim thinks the best camera is "the one on you"!